Chapter 78: First Meeting Duoduo

Shen Siyuan did not answer Lin Manzhi's question, but asked in return, "Did she say something to you?"

Lin Manzhi nodded and said, "She said that these past few days, you haven't contacted her."

Sure enough, Jiang Tingyu had been waiting for Shen Siyuan to take the initiative to reach out to her.

This did not surprise Shen Siyuan. With Jiang Tingyu's looks, it was impossible for her to keep actively pursuing a man; she only needed to show a little fondness and goodwill, and men would naturally come chasing after her.

She believed that she had already shown Shen Siyuan plenty of fondness and goodwill, and Shen Siyuan ought to give her more feedback in return.

She hadn't expected that Shen Siyuan would simply vanish without a word.

This made her feel very uncomfortable, so she became even less inclined to contact Shen Siyuan.

But since Lin Manzhi had brought it up, Shen Siyuan felt some things were better said clearly right away.

So he said, "A couple of days ago a friend introduced me to someone. We both felt the other was pretty good, so we decided to give dating a try."

Lin Manzhi was stunned for a moment upon hearing this, as if she hadn't quite processed it yet, and asked, "Then what about Tingyu?"

"Doesn't she not want a boyfriend right now?" Shen Siyuan asked in return.

Lin Manzhi knew Jiang Tingyu's situation. She sighed at his words and said with some disappointment, "Tingyu is a really good girl."

Shen Siyuan understood what she meant, so he said, "I didn't say she wasn't good, but—no one should be made to wait for anyone."

Shen Siyuan chose to be straightforward; if neither of them wanted to date, there was no point in wasting each other's time.

"I think, with her conditions, she should be able to find someone even better," Shen Siyuan added a word of comfort.

Lin Manzhi smiled at his words. Jiang Tingyu was only her friend, not her daughter; it was just that the two of them hadn't worked out, and she felt a little disappointed, that's all.

She asked curiously, "What does your date look like? What could possibly make you give up on a beauty like Tingyu?"

"If we end up together, I think you'll get the chance to meet her," Shen Siyuan said with a smile, without offering any further explanation.

Once she saw Ruan Hongzhuang, she would understand why Shen Siyuan had chosen her over Jiang Tingyu.

Ruan Hongzhuang had said she would contact him at noon, and the moment the clock struck 12, she called right on the dot.

Probably because it was their first phone call, Ruan Hongzhuang, who had absolutely no dating experience, suddenly realized she didn't know what to say after the line connected. She held it in for a long while, and in the end actually said, "I'm sorry."

Shen Siyuan was startled for a moment upon hearing that, then couldn't help but burst into laughter.

He felt this side of Ruan Hongzhuang was simply too adorable, forming a stark contrast with her usual cool, older-sister image.

"Was I not supposed to say that?"

Hearing Shen Siyuan's laughter, Ruan Hongzhuang didn't get annoyed; instead, she seemed to have found a topic.

"Right, who greets someone like that?"

"Actually I knew that, I just didn't know what to say for a moment," Ruan Hongzhuang said.

Of course she knew what she should say—she wasn't stupid—it was just that she got too excited for a moment and forgot what to say, and because the pause went on too long, that's why she ended up saying sorry.

Shen Siyuan laughed a few times, then stopped; if he kept laughing, it would be impolite.

He also offered some comfort: "This is actually pretty nice. At the very least, I'll never forget what our first phone call was like."

"That's true enough."

Ruan Hongzhuang actually believed Shen Siyuan's comforting words, and there was even a hint of self-satisfaction in her tone.

Once the conversation got going, Ruan Hongzhuang was no longer nervous or excited, and her speech became smooth and easy.

She told Shen Siyuan that if they went hiking tomorrow, she would need to wear a pair of flat sneakers, but all she had at home were high heels…

She told Shen Siyuan that she had checked in the morning and there happened to be a good movie showing tomorrow…

She told Shen Siyuan that Jiang Taozhi had recommended a Sichuan restaurant with great flavors, and they could go eat there together tomorrow…

She told Shen Siyuan that when they went shopping tomorrow, could he accompany her to the Folk Customs Street—she had wanted to go for a long time but never had the time…

……

When Ruan Hongzhuang spoke with Shen Siyuan, her tone was unhurried, carrying a trace of that soft, glutinous quality unique to Jiang Nan women, completely unlike her usual crisp, clear Mandarin.

This wasn't something she did on purpose; she was originally from Siming, and spoke a full dialect of Wunong. In daily life, because of work, she deliberately used Mandarin to communicate with people.

Listening to her speak, even without seeing her, one would picture in their mind a graceful and generous image.

Shen Siyuan was a very good listener—not only listening, but also occasionally giving the other person a response.

He had plenty of experience with this. Back when he was pursuing his first girlfriend, he would talk for ages while the other person stayed silent, and that was incredibly frustrating.

Without feedback, you couldn't tell the other person's attitude, or even whether they were listening.

From then on, Shen Siyuan understood how to be a good listener.

Examples like this were too many to count. His first relationship, though not perfect, had actually taught Shen Siyuan a lot.

When they first started the call, neither of them knew what to talk about.

But once they opened their mouths, just like all couples in their first love, it was as if they had endless things to say, chatting on and on.

By the time they came back to their senses, it was already afternoon work time.

Fortunately, Guanghui Animation's management wasn't strict, so Shen Siyuan ordered himself a takeout.

Zhou Chuan saw it and only said, "How did you end up eating only now," and didn't say anything more.

This was also one of the reasons Shen Siyuan liked this job.

As long as you hit the monthly KPI and weren't late for work, no boss would lecture you too much.

Today was Friday, and Ding Youguang had arranged a group dinner for everyone to meet up, so after work Shen Siyuan didn't ride his little e-bike.

Instead, he chose to take a cab alone to the dinner location. The reason he hadn't called Ding Youguang or Zhou Zhengdao to go together—

was because everyone at the company knew Ding Youguang had some interest in Li Qunfang, so he was also giving Zhou Zhengdao and Li Qunfang a chance to spend time alone together.

The reason he hadn't called Ding Youguang was that he still had to go print out the contract.

Because Ding Youguang was a northerner, he had booked tonight's dinner at a Northeastern Chinese restaurant, which, according to him, served very authentic Northeastern cuisine, and he often came to eat there himself.

Shen Siyuan arrived first, then Zhou Zhengdao and Li Qunfang, and finally Ding Youguang.

"Finally got you to come out—our Zhou Zhengdao really has the pull, huh."

Seeing Li Qunfang, Shen Siyuan cracked a joke with her.

This Miss was introverted and not talkative; she wore a European-style puffy dress, making her look much younger than her actual age.

Even when Shen Siyuan said that, she merely gave a small smile and didn't respond.

But once they sat down to eat and started chatting about games and art style, she finally began to open up.

She suggested choosing a cute chibi style, because at home watching TV, the elderly and children make up the biggest audience, and those who choose to play games on TV are certainly mostly children, so a chibi art style would appeal to them more…

Her suggestion was excellent and was ultimately adopted, locking in the art style.

Over the course of the evening they chatted quite a bit, and at the same time signed the contract.

Ding Youguang handled this point very well — before getting down to business, he first sorted out the profit distribution, giving everyone something to look forward to, and also avoiding an uneven split of profits later on that would only add to the headaches.

By the time Shen Siyuan came out of the restaurant, it was already close to ten at night.

Ding Youguang lived farthest, so he left first by taxi; then Zhou Zheng and Li Qunfang, who shared a car together.

In the end only Shen Siyuan was left. He had originally planned to take a taxi as well, but since he'd had a bit to drink that evening and wanted to walk in the night breeze, he headed alone toward the bus stop sign.

As he walked, he kept chatting with Ruan Hongzhuang on WeChat.

"Do you want me to drive over and pick you up?"

"No need, get some rest early. The bus is here, I'm getting on."

Watching the No. 6 bus pull to a slow stop in front of him, Shen Siyuan hurriedly exited the chat, opened the transit app, scanned the code, and boarded.

Although there weren't many passengers left on the bus at this hour, Shen Siyuan still habitually walked toward the back row.

Then he saw that in the very last row of the bus, a little girl of about four or five was sitting all by herself.

Shen Siyuan saw her.

Naturally, she saw Shen Siyuan too.

The little girl had especially large, especially bright eyes; her hair was tied in two ponytails, and she wore a blue-and-white striped dress — very fresh and clean.

But at her neck there was a very deep wound, a black, bottomless hole; the gnarled edges of the wound looked savage and terrifying.

It seemed she had been killed by having her throat slit. He didn't know what kind of person could be so vicious — to lay a hand on such a lovely little girl.

The little girl noticed Shen Siyuan's gaze landing on her, and felt both delighted and startled.

She seemed to want to talk to him, but was also a little timid.

So she just fixed her big, watery eyes on Shen Siyuan, staring straight at him.

It wasn't until Shen Siyuan sat down beside her and spoke to her that she finally confirmed Shen Siyuan really could see her.

"What's your name?" Shen Siyuan asked her.

"Lin Yunduo," the little girl said softly.

"I'm Shen Siyuan. How old are you this year?" Shen Siyuan asked gently.

"Five," Lin Yunduo said timidly.

"It's so late — what are you doing on the bus?" Shen Siyuan continued to ask.

Fortunately there weren't many people on the bus at this point, and he was sitting in the very last row, so it didn't draw anyone else's attention.

"I want to go home," Lin Yunduo said, lowering her head, a hint of a sob in her voice.

The wound on her neck was really too deep and too big — when she lowered her head, Shen Siyuan was genuinely worried her head might fall off.

And then—

Her head really did fall off.

PS: Duoduo appears — anyone who knows the situation will understand.